Dixie's Diner - Norwich

81 School Lane

Norwich

Norfolk

NR7 8TQ

Opening times

Monday 8am - 1.30pm

Tuesday to Friday 7am - 1.30pm

Saturday 7am - 12.15pm

Sunday 8am - 11.30am

 

Parking available

 

Dixie's may look small from the outside but inside it's quite spacious.

It's open every day.

There's plenty of tables to choose from, longer ones in the middle and smaller ones to the side.

 

 Place your order and pay at the counter in the corner.

Everything looked exactly the same as it did in 2011 including the prices!

 

Condiments and sugar are already on each table.

 

A nice strong mug of tea costs just 80p.

 

Back in 2011 I loved this breakfast but this time round I had some concerns.

 

The fried bread was soft and dripping in oil, on top lay a triangular fried egg.

 

I expected a runny yolk but discovered it was solid inside.

 

The mushrooms were quite nice and the hash browns deep fried and crispy.

 

Hmm... economy sausages.

I can't say I particularly enjoyed them.

Back in 2011 I visited Dixie's Diner and was really impressed scoring it 9/10, you can read that review here. Since then though I've discovered no end of breakfast hot spots in and around Norwich serving some amazing breakfasts, I decided to return to Dixie's Diner again to see if I still felt the same...

Upon entering - Everything looked exactly the same as it had nearly 5 years ago, even the prices were the same except for tea which had increased by just 10p. The seating area is quite big, there are long tables in the centre and smaller tables around the edge. Head to the counter in the corner, there's a large blackboard listing all the different breakfasts overhead. Place your order, collect your drink and pay at the counter, there's cutlery on the counter but don't worry if you forget to take some as I noticed they will bring cutlery over when the food is ready if you do forget. You will find condiments and sugar on the table, don't expect Heinz here though. It was really busy when I arrived, a few tables were empty but by the time I'd placed my order only one table was empty, I dashed to grab it trying not to spill my tea in the process. This seemed like a popular cafe for workers, I spotted builders and nurses tucking into a Full English. Green spotty table cloths covered the tables and classic black and white posters hung from the walls. It was a reasonably nice place to eat breakfast, nothing fancy and certainly very traditional. 7/10

Service - The lady on the counter was incredibly fast and efficient, there was a queue at the counter which rapidly reduced due to her sheer speed at processing orders. Efficiency is great but as well as this she was really friendly too making me feel welcome straight away. I placed my order and collected my hot drink, about twenty minutes later the food was brought over. 8/10

Contents - 2 sausages, 2 bacon, 2 fried eggs, fried bread, 2 hash browns, mushrooms, beans and tinned tomatoes. 8/10

Presentation - The oval plates that I'd been served my breakfast on previously had since been replaced by rectangular plates, I much prefer an oval plate. The presentation here wasn't great, the eggs were triangular where they'd been cooked as a batch and cut out when ready. The tomatoes were plopped into the beans, the fried bread didn't look crispy and the sausages looked fairly cheap. The mushrooms and hash browns were looking quite nice though. 4/10

The food - The sausages were an economy catering variety that tasted quite bland, I felt certain that a better quality sausage had been used here in the past. The bacon was ok but the fried bread was drenched in oil and lacked any crunch, on my previous visit I can remember the fried bread being golden and crisp. The triangular fried eggs looked slightly strange, initially I thought they would have runny yolks but when I cut through them they were solid. I like a tinned tomato so was delighted to see them on the plate, they were surrounded by a fairly nice sea of beans. The hash browns were crispy and the mushrooms quite tasty, these were the highlight of this otherwise slightly disappointing breakfast. 5/10

Value for money - At £5.10 the mega breakfast still cost exactly the same as it had five years ago, for the price you get a breakfast cooked using basic ingredients. The mega breakfast no longer comes with bread and butter but It seemed like a fair enough price, a mug of tea cost just 80p. 7/10

Veggie option - 2 eggs, 2 hash browns, beans, tomatoes, mushrooms, toast or fried bread and bread and butter for £4.30.

Overall - I was quite excited about returning here to write a more in depth review, sadly I walked away feeling quite disappointed. The sausages were bland, the fried bread was no longer golden crispy and the fried eggs lacked nice runny yolks. Dixie's is clearly a popular place and the service is very good, if you're looking for an affordable and basic breakfast then this could be the place for you. I demand a good quality sausage and decent fried eggs when I go out for breakfast these days though, a price I'm always happy to pay extra for. 6.5/10